Election Day on the North Side

I spent the afternoon of Election Day on the North Side. The pride and excitement in the communities I visited was incredible. We had a hard time finding anyone who had not voted as just everyone we met loudly and proudly proclaimed they went to the polls to vote for Barack Obama.

We stopped by a polling location in Manchester around 6:30 to make sure the people we expected to be waiting in line didn't leave without voting. Except that there was no one in line, because just about everyone had already voted. They usually get at most 200, but at that time over 800 had voted.

Living in the suburbs, I didn't get a sense of what Barack Obama really means to people. On the North Side, people had a sense of pride in him that I know I have never felt for anyone in my life.

I think President Obama will make a huge difference in the African American communities as a role model. Parental involvement in a child's education is assumed here in the burbs, but no some much in the city where I grew up. Obama's story about his mother getting him up at 4:30 to study is a powerful example.